Specs
Who Mark Ray, president, executive creative director; and Rebecca Armstrong, managing partner
What Brand advertising and content agency
Where North offices, Portland, Ore.
North was born in 2006, when Cole & Weber vet Rebecca Armstrong and Arnold alum Mark Ray bought into and rebranded ad agency Johnson Sheen. They didn’t set out to pursue crunchy clients, but since shoemaker Keen hired it in 2010, the shop has added assignments from brands with a green hue or those looking to play one up. North helped launch Subaru’s 2012 Impreza with a 50-company tour that lured workers outside for “fresh-air therapy.” Other recent clients include Clif bars and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Driven by that and other business, the agency’s staff has doubled to 24 in the past two years, according to Ray.